Anytime Fitness to Open Its 3,000th Gym

Anytime Fitness, Hastings, Minnesota, will open its 3,000th gym later this month with the opening of a facility in Stroud, England.

CEO Chuck Runyon will attend a ceremony marking the milestone in Stroud on Nov. 24. The company will also announce new agreements to open clubs in Sweden and Italy, and the opening of its 100th gym in Japan.

Anytime Fitness signed agreements with master franchisees in recent weeks to begin opening clubs in Sweden and Italy, according to a media release. The company said its global expansion is outpacing the rate of its domestic growth.

“A very small percentage of U.S.-based franchises can say that nearly one-third of their units are located outside the United States,” Anytime Fitness CEO Chuck Runyon said in a statement. “It’s proof that our business model is attractive to potential franchisees and consumers worldwide. In fact, 2015 will likely be the first year that we open more gyms internationally than in the U.S.”

Anytime Fitness has more than 50 clubs open in the United Kingdom and approximately 1,000 total locations outside the United States in 21 countries. The company has franchise agreements in 29 countries and expects to have clubs open in each of those countries by the end of 2016.